The Dickinson press., 1887-11-05
ON ENGLISH RAILWAYS.
THE USUAL LINE OF PROMOTION FOR
ENGINE DRIVERS.

Engine drivers are very little known as q
class, though the duties they discharge are
public and very responsible. The fact is that
the engine driver, who must not only be
skilled i'll the technicalities of his business,
but must possess intellectual and moral quail
ties Of IL high order, has never risen above
the rank of the artisan; nor does he pretend
to rise above it, and yet lie must be almost as
capable and us dutiful as the captain of a
ship or the commander of a regiment. The
workman, whose cool judgment and unccas-
ing watchfulncss are more serviceablc than
any mere manual skill he may possess, is
worthy attention.
Engine drivers are neither born nor made;
they grow. You cannot apprentice n boy to
engine driving. Engine driving, however, is
the goal of the ambition of most boys who
begin their working life in n locomotive Shell.
From lein3 a kind of "devil' to everybody
the boy gradually becomes Il Cleaner" Sup
piled with Il bundle of cotton waste, he rubS
over the working parts Of the engine, and
thus acquires Il knowledge of its construction.
AT this work he may be kept four or five
years. If lie is fit for nothing better he re-
mains at it all his life. But if he is steady,
quick and handy lie is sure to attract the no
ticc of the foreman, and the foreman occa-
sionally calls on him to fire an engine, Or
lInl'ly 70 run one out OF OF into the shed. 1t
is Il proud day for him when he first steps ON
the foot plate of an engine, charged to drive
it II few yards out into Il siding. perhaps, or
up To the train to which it is to he attached,
From this point everything depends OH HIM
self. BY and by he obtains an appointment
us fireman, most likely on an engine which is
never engaged i'll hazardous work. Perhaps
it is Il pug engine doing yard or station duty,
and never permitted on tho main line or pril-
ciial siings. Here the growing engine
driver learns something of the weight of
trains, OF Til" reaular supply of steam, of the
relation between the steam pressure and the
work to lie done, of economizing coal and
generally of the management and working of
an engine. Then II vacancy occurs among
the tircIncn on the regular goods traffic and
the most steady and promising young hand
in the shell is promoted. He now obtains II
knowledge of "thc road, learns to read the
signals, as well as the other multitudinous
Signs by which the experienced engine driver
feels his way along, and of course becomes
proficient in the art of keeping up the motive
power to the point needed 10y the driver. He
may even now Ie working merely on n
branch or on n slow goods train; but he is de-
cidclly getting "n. lio futhoms the mys-
teries OF shunting. Billiard players will un-
drrstand what we mean when say that in
shnnting strength is everything. The en-
gine, like Il cue, propcls the trucks with just
sufficient force, and no moro, to land them at
the desired spot, the engine itself pulling up
rs soon as the momentum has been applied.
From goods freight fireman he is pro-
NOTED to goods driver; an important move.
He already knows the road, can read tho sig
mails and gauge the weight of n train; but he
has yet to learn how to keep time ON n jour
ney, low to regulate the break so MS not to
waste power, how to utilize "straights' and
d%esccnts, how to climb hills and go safely
round curves. Goods trains not being greatly
pressed for time, he has n good margin to
work upon, and after a few journeys his
work his train in perfect accordance
with the system ]; ii down; rot only does
he learn by heart tie signals, points, gradients
aud other features of the road, but he
is able to detect weak spots i'll the permanent
way. In such cases he scribbles a line on n
piece of paper and throws it out to tue first
platelnyer lie passes. That generally s%utliccs;
hut if not, he makes IL report to the chief
engineer. He does not know what it is--bal-
last shifted, sleeper broken, chair defective,
or rail giving way; but he feels there is
something wrong, and until it is put right he
passes over the spot with such caution us to
neutralize the danger. His phase as goods
driver is one of the most important in his
progress.
hut lie has not yet done with stokipg. His
next step is rs passenger fireman. His other
qualities, if he possesses them, are nov
coming into play. 1t is true he has simply t.
maintain the motive power for the service O
the driver, but he is something better than
the boy who blows the organ bellows. He i
/, the drivers companion and h%elpmato; he i
probably as competent AS tho driver himself
h and lie necessarily exercises Il moral infu
n. eLce which, if strong, proves invaluable t
!. both of them i'll case Of emergency. On
=. might almost compare them to conipanio
If lighthouse keepers. Should an acciden
" occur, it is the iiremun's duty to run forwar
with n danger flag, just as it is the req
10 guards duty to run back and protect" a 70
10 lowing train. Then from passenger firema
", he becomes passenger driver. But there is
great difference i'll passenger drivers. III
one whose development We have traced is Oh
of tho best. Passing over his stages of Ell
ploynlent on branch lines, slow main lr
i trains, specials and so on, we come to h
~ final phase as the driver of tho great expire
tho Flying Dutchman, Scotcl,man, OF Zul1
he or the Wild Irishman, as the reader ma
choose to suppose.
90 w lii IL LID postum INV. V III AZ
~. man whose efficiency and character will fro
ro any point of view stand the ~scycrcst test
II. lie is an expert whose training has been
the most gradual, minute and thorough d
scription, who lus climbed step by stepto Il
top of the ladder, where his foothold is no
as firm rs if lie were standing OH the sol
% ground. His wages are SAY ten shillings
day; his working hours are fifty-six to fit
seven II week; lie is exposed to all sorts
weather-very peculiar it is. too, on the foo
plate of a locomotive with your feet scorch
he by the heat while the bitter east wind free2
III the moisture on your beard; and he is charg
'fe with the duty of taking say 500 passenge
laI from London to Exeter, or Glasgow,
ny Edinburgh, or Holyhead within q certa
" time, at an average speed of fifty miles
l hour. From the moment he starts to I
Ill moment he arrives he is under Il consta
"a strain. Not only arc the peculiarities of t
laC road, which he knows from experience, to
CT noticed; but every mile or two there is Sol
ING official signal put up for him 10 read. lie
crossings, points, tunnels, bridges, viadue
YES stations, platclayers, gradients, curves
raj these he must look out for. Consider
pc, operation of climbing and descending Il ssh
at NIT or descending. and then climbing
tho valley" AT these times the drivers hand
never Off the lever. III the course of Il +
tlet changes in the speed of the train-accelcl
Don ing it or diminishing 1t so steadily that no
be passenger notices what is being done. Il
is the perfection OF engine driving. Tha
itch the climax of the drivers skill, and he alta
uhe it coincidentally with the full development
nr those qualities which he has unconsciou
w w trained within himself, and which are
'1n- governed by All orerniaS.erlEG sense of DIT
oil, st. james Gazette.
rent NO man," says III. Ruskin, in one of
ives latest essays, should marry under "a:
repe girl uuder is" And lie adds that the yol
,out man should choose his bride 'as lie VIC
cht, choose his destiny, with range of choice fl
two, earth to heaven"
icers H., of Nov. yo,,. ,,ya u
Nv granted more patents than their sisters i'll
tne other state. The women of Massachuse